


Strange Things Happen with Twins

by artisticguy



Category: Free!
Genre: AU where Haru has a twin, Haru gets a little salty, M/M, switching POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-05 00:58:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4159578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artisticguy/pseuds/artisticguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Nanase twins are complete opposites and barely know each other, but when it comes to a certain classmate, they share one common interest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unusual Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! I haven't posted anything in a while and this was something that my friend suggested someone should write a fic about. So, here it is.

There has always seemed to be the running stereotype that twins are completely opposite in personality. Well, in the case of the Nanase twins, it couldn’t be any more true. Growing up, the two of them were pretty much bipolar opposites. They didn’t even participate in the same activities because their parents weren’t really the type for activities and such. Haru had developed his love for swimming and maintained a rather introverted lifestyle. Ryo on the other hand, leaned toward the more extroverted path, becoming involved in gymnastics.

Haru spent a lot of time keeping to himself either in the bathroom or in his own room. Realistically, his only interactions with Ryo were when his brother was begging him to get out of the bathroom that they shared. Since the two siblings didn’t show interest in each other’s lives, they grew even more distant as years progressed. By the time it was their senior year of high school at Iwatobi, they were practically strangers. Even the brother’s best friends didn’t know much about the other twin, they were more legend than reality due to the scarce interactions they’d had with one another and any interaction at that seemed strange, especially when it came to Makoto Tachibana.

However, having a twin can be very difficult when they can get away with pretending to be you…

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a sunny Monday morning and like always, Makoto crawled out of his bed ready to start the day. He moved with purpose in the mornings, making sure to get ready in a timely fashion, he did have to pick up Haru after all. Groggily, he put on his Iwatobi uniform and hurried down the stairs with his things. Then he made lunches for both Haru and himself. It was practically routine for Makoto to make both their lunches nowadays. Makoto loved seeing the small half-smile that Haru would have when receiving his lunch. Once that was finished, he stowed the lunches in his bag and was out the door.

Makoto climbed the steps on the way to Haru’s house, seeing it once he reached the top. On a mission to retrieve Haru from the bathtub Makoto knew he would be in, he moved briskly with pep in his step. When Makoto reached the front door he found it locked.

“Of course…” He mumbled.

Yet again, Makoto found himself trying open the locked door to the Nanase household. This had happened many times, so he knew exactly where to apply pressure with his knee for the door to open. Sure enough, the door opened to an empty hallway. He headed straight for the bathroom.

“Haru…” He called, simultaneously knocking on the door. “Are you in there?”

Makoto could hear the sound of water swishing on the other side.

“Don’t come in…” Haru responded.

“Come on, we’re going to be late for school.”

“I’m not ready yet.” The voice protested.

“Fine. I’ll just wait here till you’re done. Do not take any longer than 15 minutes or we will be late. Do you-” Before he could finish asking his question, Makoto could hear the sound of Haru submerging himself under the water again.

The boy rested his back against the door, sliding his way down to sit at the foot of it. After a couple minutes, Makoto could hear someone coming down the stairs in a hurry. The boy was running and tripped over Makoto’s feet, landing on his face. When the boy turned to look and see what caused him to fall, he beamed. “Makoto! You’re here again? Don’t tell me you’re waiting around for my brother…”

Makoto smiled at the boy. “Good morning Ryo. Sorry for tripping you. And yeah, you know, the usual…” He looked up at the door knob, hoping that Haru would be out soon.

“You shouldn’t have to wait for him!” Ryo said eagerly, getting to his feet. “You could walk me to school.”

“Oh, uh, sorry Ryo… I’ve always walked Haru. Maybe next time?”

He saw Ryo frown just before Makoto fell backwards. The bathroom door opened to a dripping Haru.  Makoto’s face flushed as he landed at Haru’s feet.

“Makoto will not be walking you Ryo, he’s walking me.” Haru said stubbornly.

“G- good morning Haru.” Makoto choked out.

The boy looked down at his feet to find the other boy, “Morning.”

“Hmph! Fine then. Don’t worry Makoto, one of these days, you’ll be walking with me!” With that Ryo was out the front door.

“Your brother is so strange…”

Haru walked over Makoto, heading to his bedroom for his uniform, most likely. “Don’t talk about him…”

“You two never really have gotten along, have you?” Makoto asked as he stood up, following behind Haru.

When he reached the doorway to Haru’s bedroom, Haru gave him a look that read ‘I told you to stop talking about my brother’ and shut the door.

“Haru, come on.”

“I don’t want you watching me change.”

Makoto’s face reddened, he was thankful Haru couldn’t see him. The door opened and Haru stepped out, his bag in his hands.

“Let’s just go…”

At Haru’s request, they were both out the door and on their way to school. Since Haru wasn’t really the talking type, Makoto spent most of the walk with his thoughts.

‘It’s really strange how Ryo and Haru never really interact with each other… On top of that, they don’t seem to like each other at all. I wonder why…’ Makoto looked over to Haru who was staring at the sidewalk as they walked. ‘Haru’s just so… so, I don’t even know the right way to put it… Stoic? I can never tell what he’s thinking. If I told him how I… well, he wouldn’t be interested.’ He made a face, ‘Then Ryo is so open and playful… How are they related?’

The truth was that Makoto did prefer Haru’s quiet nature over the exuberance Ryo expressed. He preferred it quite a bit, considering Makoto had had a crush on Haru since they were twelve.

“Makoto?” Haru was now looking over at him, his blue eyes questioning. “What’re you thinking about?”

He never really talked much, but it seemed like whenever Makoto would go off in his own little world, Haru became interested.

“Hm? Oh, sorry. Not about anything in particular I guess.” He ran his hands through his hair nervously, not wanting to divulge that he’d been thinking about Haru.

“Right…”

Every now and then Makoto would think about confessing his feelings to Haru. At this point, he needed to do it soon, or he’d run out of time… Makoto glanced over at the other boy, thinking that maybe today could be the day. Then, he decided against it.

‘Soon.’ He reasoned with himself. ‘I’ll tell him, this week even. Just… not today.’

After a long silent walk, the two of them arrived at the school. They stood at the gate for a moment before Haru met Makoto’s eyes. He knew they were going in opposite directions since Haru had his history course first hour and Makoto had his english class.

“I’ll see you at lunch?”

Haru didn’t respond, so Makoto started to turn to head to class. He felt Haru grab his arm.

“Makoto?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for walking me to school.”

He smiled back at the boy, “You’re welcome, Haru.”

This was the first time Haru had ever said thank you verbally for something Makoto had done. He did say thank you, but it was always more of an unspoken thing.

Haru stared down at the ground, letting go of Makoto’s arm. “I’ll see you at lunch,” he mumbled before leaving for class.

**‘Strange...’ Makoto thought. He headed to his class, still hung up on the unusual response. ‘I wonder what that was about? It couldn't be about Ryo, could it?’**


	2. Just a Little Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru still can't get over how much Ryo has been flirting with Makoto lately, but why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here's another chapter, I hope you like it.

Haru sat in class that morning with the same emotionless expression of boredom as always. However, in his mind there was a different train of thought. He was thinking about Makoto.

Lately, Haru had been thinking about his best friend in a way that was different than being _friends_. Haru wouldn’t admit that to Makoto though, he really didn’t show emotion. He wasn’t about to put his heart out on the line like that either. Something had really been making these thoughts more evident. Not something as much as someone.

Ryo has been flirting with Makoto forever, but Haru had always been able to conceal the jealousy he felt. Recently, the flirting has escalated and become more frequent. Makoto being the genuinely sweet and kind person he is, doesn’t realize it’s flirting and just responds politely. That drives Haru up the wall. Sure, he’d never really been the type to flirt or even carry long conversations, but Haru wanted Makoto to talk to him like that, not Ryo.

The bell that dismissed students for lunch rang. Haru grabbed his things and began walking up to the roof of the building, where he and the rest of the swim team normally ate lunch. He reached the end of the hallway that led to the staircase for the roof.

A familiar face was waiting for him, one he didn’t want to see.

“Hey bro,” Ryo said with a smirk.

“Don’t call me that.” Haru responded monotonously.

“You’re no fun... Are you going to go eat with that swim team again?”

“That’s what I always do.”

“Is that cutie Makoto going to be there?” Ryo winked and stuck his tongue out.

Haru shot a look at his twin, ‘ _call him that again, I dare you_.’

Ryo giggled. It really did seem like he enjoyed getting a rise out of Haru. “Can I come eat with you today? C’mon bro, please?” He flashed the puppy dog eyes to try and better his chances.

“No you can not,” Haru said plainly, “swim team only.”

With that, he walked up the stairs, leaving a pouting Ryo at the bottom of them. He wouldn’t let anyone else see, but there was a smirk on Haru’s face.

When he opened the door to the roof, Makoto was the only one up there. His heart skipped a beat when Makoto smiled his usual smile in Haru’s direction. Clumsily Makoto tried to shift where he was sitting, trying to gesture for Haru to sit beside him. Haru could feel the corners of his mouth turn upwards. Makoto was the only person Haru would let see him smile.

He sat down besides the other boy, sitting in silence for a while. Then Makoto began rummaging through his bag, pulling out a lunch box.

“Here’s your lunch Haru,” he said sheepishly.

Haru took it and smiled, “Thank you, Mako.”

Makoto ran his hand through his hair with a blush on his face. He really was the sweetest person. When he opened the lunch box, he could tell Makoto was peering over his shoulder to see if he liked it. Inside, there was rice and vegetables and of course; mackerel.

“Mako,” he looked up at the other boy next to him, trying to think of how to finish the sentence.

Before he had the chance, he heard the rooftop door swing open. “Hi Haru-chan! Mako-chan!” Nagisa shouted, dragging Rei behind him.

Haru reverted to his expressionless state and began eating the lunch Makoto made him. It was delicious as always. He could see Makoto grimace a little at the interruption before turning to smile at the others.

“Hello Nagisa, Rei.” Makoto greeted.

It seemed like the two of them had been having another one of their usual conversations. Nagisa was off on some wild train of thought and Rei was trying to provide reason to the discussion. Most of the time Haru just listened to the conversation, taking it in but never adding to it. Occasionally, he would glance up from his lunch to look at Makoto, who’d always smile at him. To avoid showing how flustered he was, Haru would let his hair fall to cover his face as he continued eating.

After a while, Gou met them on the roof. She sat down in her usual spot, easing herself into the circle. Gou had always been close to Haru, she was Rin’s sister after all. Since Gou and Rin, whether they wanted to admit it or not, were always a package deal Gou had spent a lot of time with Haru throughout the years. She was practically Haru’s sister.

Haru looked up to see Gou making a face at him. He squinted back and returned to his food. She was always doing things like that. Haru acted like he didn’t know what she was up to, but he did.

His phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw the message was from Gou. He met her eyes with and expression that read, ‘ _Really?_ ’ She gestured for him to just open it.

_**So, when are you going to tell Makoto how you feel?** _

She was always spot on about things like this. Gou had known even before Haru did that he had feelings for Makoto. He shot her a look before typing back:

_**I don’t know what you’re talking about…** _

She rolled her eyes and typed back quickly, practically smashing the keyboard on her phone.

_**Oh come on! You aren’t as expressionless as you think you are Haru. Everyone knows. Well, everyone except Makoto…** _

Haru could feel Makoto shift his weight so he was a little closer to him. He drew his phone closer to his body.

_**And why are you bringing this up now?** _

She paused for a moment before typing.

_**I’ve been talking to Makoto.** _

His eyes widened.

_**About what?** _

Before Gou could text back, Nagisa pulled her into the still lively conversation that he was having with Rei.

Makoto still inched closer to Haru. “Is everything okay?” He asked quiet enough for only Haru to hear him.

“Yeah…” Haru said shakily. He knew that Makoto didn’t buy it, but he left it at that.

He stared at Gou for the rest of the lunch period, waiting for a response. The bell rang and he saw Gou gesture to her phone, implying she’d message back when she had a chance. His heart felt like it was in his throat.

_‘He couldn’t feel the same, could he?’_ Haru wondered as Makoto packed his things and rose to his feet. He stretched out a hand for the other to take. Makoto didn’t really know his own strength, when he pulled Haru up, he pulled him into himself on accident. To keep from knocking them both over, Haru clung to Makoto. He stared down, looking at how close the two of them were.

“Sorry Haru,” Makoto started before meeting Haru’s eyes. It seemed like Makoto’s face couldn’t get any redder, or was Haru just imagining it?

“It’s okay,” he forced the words out, slowly pulling away from Makoto. He turned to see Gou, Nagisa, and Rei all smiling at them.

“See you two at swim practice,” Gou called with a smile on her face while she walked with the others down to class.

Makoto raked a hand through his hair. “We should probably get to class. You promised me you’d have better attendance this semester Haru.”

Haru smiled to himself before turning to look at Makoto.

“Right.”

They walked down the stairs to find Ryo still standing there at the foot of the steps. Haru automatically tensed.

“Hi Mako,” Ryo playfully called.

“H- Hi Ryo…” Makoto was clearly uncomfortable and Haru knew exactly why. Haru was the only person who ever called Makoto ‘Mako’. First the flirting, now stealing private nicknames. He glared at his twin, then grabbing Makoto’s wrist and pulling him in the direction of their next classes.

“Let’s just go.”

They stopped in the science hallway. Makoto looked at Haru who had a stoic expression.

“What was that about?”

“It was nothing. I’ll see you later. Thank you for the lunch,” Haru started to walk off before finishing the last sentence.

“You’re welcome.”

He sat in his afternoon class, his jaw still clenched in anger thinking about his twin’s constant flirting. Suddenly, his phone buzzed. Haru hid it under one of his books as he lit the screen up. It was a message from Gou. He took a deep breath before opening it.

_**Makoto thinks you’re jealous of Ryo, but he doesn’t get why. You need to tell him why. That boy really cares about you, don’t mess it up Nanase.** _


End file.
